As a faculty member in the College of the Humanities in the Religion Program, I teach courses in South Asian Studies and Religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. My research focuses on two diverse areas. The first is the history of the Shaiva tradition in textual sources and material history particularly in relation to traditions of Skanda-Karttikeya. The second is the more recent history of the Sikh tradition in India and in the diaspora community in Canada with a focus on media representations of the community.
Richard Mann
On Leave
| Degrees: | B.A. (Wilfrid Laurier), M.A., Ph.D (McMaster) |
Biography
Research Interests
- Early and medieval Hinduism
- The historical development of Shaivism
- Religion and Material Culture
- Religion and Public Life
Publications
Books:
The Rise of Mahāsena: The Transformation of Skanda-Kārttikeya in North India from the Kuṣāṇa to Gupta Empires. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2012. http://www.brill.com/rise-mahasena
Books Edited:
(with Benjamin Fleming) History and Material Culture in Asian Religions. New York: Routledge, 2014. http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415843782/
Chapters in edited books:
“Material Culture and Ruler Ideology: The Case of Huviṣka’s Skanda-Kumāra with Viśākha Coinage.” In History and Material Culture in Asian Religions, edited by Benjamin Fleming and Richard Mann. New York: Routledge, 2014: 229-251.
(with Benjamin Fleming) “Introduction.” In History and Material Culture in Asian Religions, edited by Benjamin Fleming and Richard Mann. New York: Routledge, 2014: 1-17.
““Hagiography and Mythology in an American Guru lineage: The Case of Sivaya Subramuniyaswami.” In Homegrown Gurus: From Hinduism in America to American Hinduism, edited by Lola Williamson and Ann Gleig. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2013: 115-139.
Book Reviews:
Book Review: The Modern Spirit of Asia: The Spiritual and the Secular in China and India. Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses March 2015 Vol 44, No. 1,
Articles in refereed journals:
‘Open secularism’ and the RCMP turban debate. Social Compass. Mar2020, Vol. 67 Issue 1,
“The framing of Sikhs in Canadian media in the 1980s: The power of the media and the conflicts between religion in the public sphere and an assumed national identity” Sikh Formations: Religion, Culture, Theory (2019) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17448727.2019.1565308
“Hinduism in the News: The Shifting Role of Religion and the Media in Canadian Public Life” The Canadian Journal of Communication 40.1 (2015): 87-103.
“Introduction: Exploring the Myths of Religion and Violence in India” Sikh Formations: Religion, Culture, Theory 12.2-3 (2016): 115-119. http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/wZ6rr8TD6KtPmVH7zzha/full
“Media Framing and the Myth of Religious Violence: The Othering of Sikhs in The Times of India” Sikh Formations: Religion, Culture, Theory 12.2-3 (2016): 120-141. http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/eJpCRvBsXcsDNSeTURTE/full
“Skanda and His Fathers in the Aranyakaparvan.” The Journal of Religious Studies and Theology, 33.1 (2014): 7-21.
“Material Culture and the Study of Hinduism and Buddhism.” Religion Compass, 8.8 (2014): 264-273.
Skanda in epic and Puranic literature: an examination of the origins and development of a Hindu deity in north India. Religion Compass, 1 Nov 2007 Vol1 no. 6
“The Splitting of Skanda: Distancing and Assimilation Narratives in the “Mahābhārata” and Ayurvedic Sources” Journal of the American Oriental Society 127.4 (2007): 447-470.
“Parthian and Hellenistic Influences on the Development of Skanda’s Cult in Horth India: Evidence from Kuṣāṇa-Era Art and Coins” Bulletin of the Asia Institute 15 (2001): 111-128.
“The Kauai Aadheenam: The Challenge of Identity and Authority in an American Hindu Sect” Journal of Religion and Culture 14 (2000): 101-125.